london. bill: really nice. what will you be for halloween? now, give it up. >> i usually -- dorothy. bill: good one. >> a lot of dorothyes in my neighborhood. bill: i'm still thinking. thank you, patti ann. "happening now" starts right now. jon: we begin with this fox news alert. we're awaiting a major foreign policy speech from mitt romney scheduled to begin 20 minutes from now. we'll have it in its entirety live on "happening now." the republican candidate will be in lexington, virginia, west central virginia. at the virginia military institute. we understand he will argue it is time for a policy change in the middle east. he will touch on libya, other places in that part of the world, iran, afghanistan, all of it coming up from lexington, virginia, 20 minutes from now. we'll have it for you here

on "happening now.". more on that speech in just a moment but first, brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: a deadly meningitis outbreak spreading as the number of cases and the death toll keeps going up. plus a desperate search for a little girl missing since she left for school on friday. right now the only sign of the 10-year-old? a backpack found six miles away. a final lap crash at talladega setting off a 25-car pileup. the fallout and more on "happening now." jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. hope you're off to a good monday thus far. with less than a month to go until election day we're getting a brand new snapshot of the highly contested race for the white house. jon: it is a very, very tight race as you know and looks to be getting tight other after governor romney's strong performance in last week's presidential

debate a new "gallup poll" taken in the first three days after the faceoff, shows the two contenders locked into a dead-heat, 47% each. what does governor romney's team need to do to keep up the momentum? erin mcpike, national political reporter for "real clear politics.". erin, i know a lot of republicans are saying the momentum has swung governor romney's way. it is a sprint to the finish line. you seem to be a little more cautious about that. why? >> i am because i'm looking at "real clear politics" polling averages of all the battleground states and the president is still ahead in big states he needs to win like wisconsin and ohio. he also still winning in new hampshire and nevada. and when you add those states to the electoral college map, it shows still that it's a tough way for mitt romney to go. he has got to win more than just say virginia and florida if he can win those now. jon: how many of those polls that "real clear politics" averages, how many have been taken post-debate, do you

know? are they reflective of the debate? >> maybe not quite wrote. polling in each state since the debate but, a couple of polls and a couple of days means that it could still swing back after the next debate. we have the vice-presidential debate coming up on thursday but the bigger one will be following week at hofstra university when mitt romney and president obama go head-to-head again. that is different kind of format. the town hall format. president and mitt romney will talk to individual voters asking questions, that may be a better format for the president. jon: but it does seem that states like ohio and nevada are getting tighter, and you know, with, well the election is four weeks from tomorrow. if that momentum holds for the romney team, it could really be a surprising turn around come election day? >> it certainly could. of course the romney campaign and republican national committee did a big turnout drive this past

weekend. they have been doing a lot of that. we've seen it, we've seen it more from democrats. they have been exposing some of their organizational advantages all summer long. we're just now seeing how much the romney campaign is doing in some of these states. you're right, it absolutely could turn around. until we see romney leading in a lot of these averages in a lot of these states the president still has the edge. jon: one of the questions is about voter enthusiasm. one poll says republican enthusiasm, especially post-debate, is much higher than it is among democrats. if this is going to be a base election where turning out your base is critically important that could be huge for the gop. >> no question about that. in the last month or so, we've seen democrats have had the edge in terms of enthusiasm. part of that was a as a result of the democratic convention which seemed to have better sort of reaction than the republican convention but the debate did seem to change that.

democrats will tell you that, they may have gotten complacent and the president's debate performance maybe helped them out of that. jon: curious, i know you're there, waiting for mitt romney to speak in lexington, curious that foreign policy is going to be the focus. most americans don't base their votes in large part on foreign policy, but clearly the romney team thinks this is something that needs attention? >> it does need attention just because it is a important part of the presidency. being commander-in-chief is feeling that voters want to have. so mitt romney still needs to check that box and that's what they're in the process of doing today. jon: erin mcpike, there at romney speech, scheduled to begin as we said about 15 minutes from now, lexington, virginia, the virginia military institute. erin, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: breaking this hour the number of confirmed cases in a widespread meningitis outbreak now

topping 90. the centers for disease control also confirming nine states are affected by this deadly outbreak which now claimed seven lives. jonathan serrie live from atlanta with more on this story. >> reporter: hi, jenna. even though the medication suspected in this outbreak was recall late last month this particular form of meningitis has an incubation period that can last up to four weeks. so it is likely that we're going to see additional cases and possibly even additional deaths going late into october. want to show you a map of where the cases are right now. the cdc has confirmed a total of 91 cases in these nine states. and of those states four of them, michigan, tennessee, maryland, and virginia, are reporting a combined total of seven deaths. this rare form of meningitis is not contagious, not transmitted from person-to-person but caused by a fungus that federal health officials traced to the new england compounding

center. it is a specialty pharmacy in massachusetts. the patients getting sick all received epidural injections for lower back problems at health care facilities that received shipments of a steroid from that pharmacy sometime between july through september. health care facilities in at least 23 states received the shipments in question. patients who received epidural back pain injections in these states anytime from july through september, should contact their doctor if they develop any unusual symptoms that could include fever, worsening headaches or numb bess among other symptoms. there are anti-fungal therapies for this rare form of meningitis. it is important to start them early. over the weekend the new england compounding center voluntarily expanded its recall to include all medications but once again it is that lower back pain steroid that it had shipped out during the mid to late summer that they believe that the fungal can tam

nation was involved with. -- contamination. federal officials still investigating where the fungus came from and how it got into the medication at the pharmacy. jenna? jenna: still so many questions about this story. more as we get the developments. jonathan, thank you very much. >> reporter: certainly. jon: and new information now on an unmanned drone shot out of israeli airspace over the weekend. right now hezbollah is quickly becoming the leading suspect. the group known for its arsenal of iranian weapons and for targeting israel with similar aircraft in the past. leland vittert live from our jerusalem bureau. leland. >> reporter: right now we can confirm that the israeli air force has put a u.s.-made patriot missile battery in northern israel to defend against any future drone strikes or drone launches. right now the israelis are very worried about. this is a significant step forward for whichever enemy of the jewish state has long range, over the horizon

reconnaissance drones. most dramatic video as the israeli air force scrambled 515 and f-16 jets, that happened over southern israel deep into israeli airspace. we think the drone was reconnaissance drone. we don't think it had a warhead or any type of explosives on it. let me set the scene with the map. we know the drone flew in over the western mediterranean, across the gaza strip into surgeon israel. you can see where it was intercepted and blown up by the explosion south of hebron. the patriot missile battery that sits in haifa. if hezbollah were to launch another drone over the land border or out to sea that patriot missile battery would be able to intercept it. so far from hezbollah no confirmation but iranian television, pardon me, lebanese television backed by hezbollah now said

hezbollah was indeed behind the latest drone. the iranian-backed group bought a lot of their more sophisticated weaponry from iran. lately iran has been showing off their unmanned aerial vehicles including a drone-like bomber they showed off about a year ago. in the past 48 hours we've gotten a lot of news from the iranians. no confirmation they were behind this dron. but they said the drone got so far into israel shows quote, the weakness of israel's air defense systems. israelis have not been saying much but doing a lot. we have the patriot missile battery deployed up near haifa. we heard reports from lebanon that israeli fighter jets buzzed strongholds in southern lebanon. so far no retaliatory strikes, meaning no bombing runs or strafing runs by the israeli fighter jets but clearly a show of force by the israelis, jon. jon: drones come in all sizes.

any indication how big this thing was? >> the only thing we heard it was a significant military-like dronl. one of the problems you saw the video. hard to see a her tech tiff how big it is. when the missile hit it blew the drone up. the israeli military spent a long time collecting parts from the desert from the drone blown up in midair. it has them back in a lab putting them together. the israeli military is not excited at least right now to let the press see what they have on this drone. >> i'm sure that is the case. leland vittert reporting live from jerusalem. thank you. jenna: a shocking announcement about a name we haven't heard a lot about recently, joran van der sloot. what the convicted murderer has been doing in peruvian prison. more fallout from the president's widely panned performance in the first debate. journalists and pundits are asking whether the president

really wants to keep his job. we'll have a fair and balanced debate next. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. flavor boost, meet beef. it's swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth to add delicious flavor to your skillet dish in just one stir. mmm! [ female announcer ] cook, meet compliments. get recipes at flavorboost.com.

jon: right now new information in some crime stories we're following. sentencing expected to today for a texas woman who admitted beating her toddler and gluing the little girl's hands to a wall. the mother faces up to life in prison. former penn state football coach jerry sandusky set to be sentenced tomorrow. he was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts in his child sex abuse case. the judge said to be determining whether sandusky will serve sentences simultaneously or consecutively. joran van der sloot is going to be a father? jenna: no. jon: ecch he is serving a 28-year sentence for murdering a young peruvian woman. a dutch newspaper citing van der sloot's lawyer says

he is expecting a child with a woman who came to his prison to make an unsupervised visit. go figure. jenna: oh for goodness sakes. i mean really. jon: so we're told. jenna: all right. now we're going to move on to politics, how about that? we're following an interesting trend in the wake of last week's debate. after the president's performance against governor mitt romney more and more journalists and political insiders including a columnist from "the washington post" are asking one question. does president obama really want to win the election. >> he lost the debate because he had nothing to say. that is a fundamental problem it of the obama campaign. they have the thinnest re-election brochure ever. hugely short on accomplishments. huge national debt. none of the jobs we were promised. they're starting a parade of economic statistics saying now things are just as bad when he started. romney worked in the debate seems like i have energy and ideas the president didn't. jenna: republican strategist

mike murphy on. brad woodhouse, democratic national committee. sean spicer republican national committee. they're both campaign communications director. they're made for television. you're shaking your head. why? >> i think it was the joran van der sloot comment? jenna: was that it, brad? joran van der sloot, story? >> i was shaking my head. this notion that the president doesn't want to be reelected is craziest thing i ever heard of. in the analysis, it is funny, not worth to put on paper, if you did i wouldn't use it to wrap fish. it wouldn't be worthy of that. earlier this summer when mitt romney was off the campaign trail for exhaustion. the president was putting in 19 hour days. >> a lot of fund raisers. >> this guy, you know, this guy, is committed to this. he has got the fire in the belly. he is exhibited that every

day he has been in office. look, one debate is not going to the determine the outcome of this election. jenna: sean own, that people may use the newspaper to wrap fish. we don't know what they do with it after. major publications have brought up this question and it's a question why do you want the job, that mitt romney has had to field now for several is months. here is what robert gibbs had to say about mitt romney. >> governor romney had a masterful, theatrical performance, just this past week but, the underpinning and found mitigation of that -- foundations of that performance were fundamentally dishonest. jenna: sean, is this all just an act? >> first on the question you asked brad, i would say that rnc chairman reince priebus in the weekly republican address pointed out i think the president likes, president but he doesn't like the job of being president. he has done as of today, 219 fund-raisers which is almost 2 1/2 times what inhas done before. jenna: fund raise, you don't like being president. >> i think that there's a part of being president, the

trappings of president -- >> sean are you saying mitt romney becomes president won't be fund-raisers. jenna: hold on a second, brad. >> not at all. there is difference between priorities. >> that is ridiculous, sean. >> i think the president likes going on "the view." i think he likes going to today -- >> that is so insulting sean. >> but, i think -- >> that is so insulting sean. >> the fact of the matter is, when you look at the record, whether foreign policy or economic policy in terms of where we stand in this country or the debt, it is again, a lot of i enjoy going out giving the speech. then there comes the hard work, it is one thing to name a commission or --. jenna: brad,. >> sean, that is absolutely insulting. >> when was the last time he met with his jobs council? when was the last time he met with jobs council? last world leader at the u.n.? >> when mitt romney left the campaign for exhaustion, barack obama was putting in 19 hour days. jenna: hold on a second.

brad and sean, i think, i think we've -- >> that is ridiculous, sean. that is insulting. jenna: if you're a presidential fund raise and you also can't be tired? is that what you're saying. >> that is what sean is suggesting. >> i think there is a difference --. jenna: if you will, brad, talk about these priorities. one of the messages that seems to becoming out of all this talk about the debate is that the president did not prioritize the practice and preparedness you need to enter into the debate. that is why he didn't look as good as some might expect. how do you answer the criticism the president did not look prepared? >> i think if you go back and look at his answers i think he certainly looked he certainly looked prepared. mitt romney had sharper and more energetic performance. it was, as robert gibbs said a performance. it is easy to do well in a debate when you're not willing to confront your own policies honestly. he lied about his tax plan. he lied about his medicare

plan. he lied about the impact of repealing obamacare. on seniors. if all you're going to do is lie makes the other guy's job a little more difficult. jenna: sean. >> funny thing is, everything the governor put out was a solid plan to move this country forward. fact checkers said it was entirely accurate. >> they did not say that sean. every [both talking at once] >> direction to move this country forward, get people back to work. wasn't a question of the president's style of problem. lack after record and policies that just tax plan. jenna: 29 days until the election, 29 days until the election i would expect nothing less than you two talking over each other and we look forward to having you back. both of you. as this gets closer to election day. and we all can say you're a liar. no you're a liar. we're going to talk more about it next time you guys are on. if it dissolves into that accusation both sides where are we really? that will be the next topic of debate.

gentlemen, nice to have you. >> thank you. u.s. spaceginning of a new program, the first comercial mission to the international space station. it is underway right now. we have breaking details next. >> liftoff of the spacex falcon 9 rocket. gecko (clearing throat)

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jon: new information on the beginning of the next chapter in the u.s. space program. the first commercial cargo flight is on its way now to the international space station. julie banderas is in mission control for us at the breaking news desk. >> reporter: jon, sunday night's launch mark as big first for space travel. it is not only the very first time a commercial cargo flight lifted off to the international space station, it also marks the beginning of a new era for nasa in which private companies will eventually take over the transportation of people and supplies to

low earth orbit. this time only cargo was on board. astronauts and private transportation are still several years away. space exploration technologies of hawthorne, california, or space ex-for short, launched the falcon 9 rocket from cape canaveral, florida, at 8:30 onboard a rocket. a capsule called dragon contains 1,000 pounds of food, clothing equipment, science experiments including 23 designed and built by students. the cargo includes a freezer that can store laboratory samples at temperatures as low as 300 degrees below zero. the supplies are scheduled to reach the space station on wednesday. the capsule will remain docked for a few weeks. the a second company, orbital sciences of virginia is preparing a rocket for test flight later this year. exciting future ahead for private space travel. jon: great stuff.

julie banderas, thanks. >> reporter: sure. jenna: early voting is underway in ohio right now, a key swing state. already there are issues which may not be decided until just before the election. in fact several lawsuits are before the courts now and how those cases turn out may impact the outcome of the presidential election. mike tobin is live in chicago with more on this. mike, what's this battle over early voting all about? >> reporter: jenna, we've got a lot of people watching the ohio state, secretary of state's office today because the secretary of state, john huston, a republican, has yet to weigh in whether he will appeal a federal court ruling that came down on friday and overturned restrictions to early voting. republicans in ohio and lawmakers in ohio wanted to essentially close the polls to early voting in the weekend and days leading up to the election. >> there needed to be a window so that the local boards could account for where the ballots were, make sure the voting rules were synchronized so when the poll books went out to the polls on tuesday for

election day that nobody could vote twice. we knew who already voted and the rolls were, had integrity. >> reporter: democrats filed suit saying the restrictions make voting more difficult for a considerable segment of the population, for instance churches that intended on busing voters to the early voting locations. the court agreed, saying in essence the polling locations should be able to handle the workload and there is no argument that justified the restrictions. >> by collapsing the early vote schedule an eliminating weekends and weekend hours for voting you are disenfranchising a an entire group of individuals. those individuals who work during the day. those individuals who have kids that they have to pick up and take to school. those individuals who don't have access to transportation. >> reporter: if the secretary of state appeals we could have a legal battle stretching into the final days before the elections. thus far this morning the secretary of state's office has been quiet, jenna. jenna: that could make things all the more interesting, mike. what about the military

aspects to the whole situation? >> reporter: well that got involved because the restrictions were not applied to the military. active duty and deployed military could vote in the final days leading up to the election. the democrats argue that is unconstitutional to have one standard for the civilian population and another standard for the military population. jenna. jenna: mike tobin live in chicago for us. mike, thank you. jon: a 10-year-old colorado girl vanishes. police find her backpack six miles from her home. they are about to update us on the search for jessica ridgway. we'll have that for you. governor mitt romney about to deliver a major foreign policy speech. we'll have his remarks and reaction to them coming up ♪

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we can help. call unitedhealthcare to learn about medicare plans that may be right for you. call now. ♪ jenna: now this fox news alert. a backpack, the only sign after little girl missing in colorado today. 10-year-old jessica ridgeway hasn't been seen since friday. police say her backpack was found on a sidewalk about six miles from her home. alicia acuna is live in westminster, colorado, with more on this. what do we know about this backpack? >> reporter: jenna, there was a water bottle that was found wit it and one of the items had jessica ridgeway's name on it. but other than that investigators really aren't discussing what the contents of that backpack are or why they believe it was found six miles from where she disappeared t was found by a resident who apparently didn't know it was related to the case and sent an e-mail to community list to notify its owner it had been

found. once he realized connection police say he called 911. police went to the home of jessica's great-grandmother in missouri and where her father lives. the parents have been in court over custody. >> asked if they could look through my house to see if there was any signs that she had been there. of course she hadn't been. we would have love to have had her there but that didn't happen. if anyone out there knows where she is at, please, please return her. >> reporter: investigators have since said they do not believe this is related to that custody issue and cops are now going door-to-door in both superior and westminster. jenna. jenna: alicia, what about the community? how has the community handled this? >> reporter: despite freezing temperatures on saturday and overnight, more than 800 volunteers were out searching for this little girl. flyers are everywhere here in the city of westminster and beyond with a description of her face and what she was last wearing.

the fbi is on the case as well. bloodhounds joined the search over the weekend. in terms of the community i can tell you personally what it's been like here. i live here in westminster. i don't live too are from where jessica disappeared. i've been out and i've seen her face just about everywhere and i'm going to send things back to you right now. jenna: nice to hear a personal perspective on this story as well. alicia, thank you very much. alicia acuna in colorado. meantime we'll run to some other breaking news out of virginia today where we see governor romney. jon: that's right, jenna. governor bob mcdonnell of virginia just finished his introduction. you notice all the white. these are cadets at the virginia military institute, a historic and highly regarded private military college that offers a lot of, feed as lot of officers to our military institutions. vmi in lexington, virginia. governor romney selecting it as the site of his foreign policy speech. let's listen.

>> -- fireless -- tireless campaign companion, governor bob mcdonnell. he goes all over the country helping me. shows what conservative leadership can do here in virginia to build a strong economy. thanks for congressman good love joining us. i appreciate his leadership and leadership. thanks for general p, i appreciate his invitation to be with you at virginia military institute. it is a privilege to be at an institute that has done so much for our nation in times of war and times of peace. for more than 170 years vmi has done more than educated students. guided their transformation to citizens, lawyers and leaders. vmi graduates have served with honor in our nation's defense just as many are doing today in afghanistan and other lands. and since september 11th attacks, many of vmi's sons and daughters have defended america and i mourn with you

the 15 brave souls who have been lost. i join you in praying for the many vmi graduates who are right now serving in harm's way. may god bless all who serve and all who have served. of all the vmi graduates none is more distinguished perhaps than general george marshal, the chief of staff of the army who became secretary of state and secretary of defense. who helped vanquish fascism and planned europe's rescue from despair. his commitment to peace was born of his direct knowledge of the awful costs and consequences of war. general marshall once said, quote, the only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it. those words were true in his time and they are true in our time. last month our nation was attacked again. a u.s. ambassador and three of our fellow americans are dead, murdered in benghazi,

libya. among the dead were three veterans, all of them were fine men, on a mission of peace and friendship to a nation that clearly longs for both. president obama has said that ambassador chris stevens and his colleagues represented the best of america and he's right. we all mourn their loss. the attack against us in libya were not an isolated incident. they were accompanied by anti-american riots in nearly two dozen other countries, most in the middle east but also in africa and asia. our embassies have been attacked, our flag has been burned. many of our citizens have been threatened and driven from their overseas homes by vicious mobs shouting, death to america. these mobs hoisted the black banner of islamic extreme over american embassies on the anniversary of 9/11. as the dust settles, as the murdered are buried, americans are asking how this happened? how the threats we face have

grown worse and what this calls on america to do? these are the right questions. i've come here today to offer a larger perspective on these tragic recent events and to share with you and share with all americans my vision for a freer, more prosperous and more peaceful world. the attacks on america last month should not be seen as random acts. they're expressions after larger struggle that is playing out across the broader middle east, a region now in the midst of the most profund upheaval in a century and the fault lines of this struggle can be seen clearly in benghazi itself. the attack on our consulate there on september 11th, 2012, was likely the work of forces affiliated with those that attacked our homeland on september 11th, 2001. this latest assault can't be blamed on a reprehensible video insulting islam, despite administration's attempts to convince us of

that for so long. no, as the administration has finally conceded these attacks were the deliberate work of terrorists who use violence to impose their dark ideology on others especially on women and girls who are fighting to control much of the middle east today and who seek to wage perpetual war on the west. we saw all of this in benghazi last month but we also is something else, something hopeful. after the attack on our consulate, tens of thousands of libyans, most of them young people, held a massive protest in benghazi against the very extremists who had murdered our people. they waved signs that read, the ambassador was libya's friend. and libya is sorry. they chanted, no to mill like shas, no to militias. they marched unarmed to the terrorist compound and then they burned it to the

ground. as one libyan woman said, we are not going to go from darkness to darkness. this is a struggle that has now shaken the entire middle east. it's the struggle of millions of millions of people, men and women, young and old, muslims, christians and nonbelievers, all of whom have had enough of the darkness. it's a struggle for the dignity that comes with freedom and opportunity and the right to live under laws of our own making. it's a struggle that has been unfolded under green banners in the streets of iran, in the public squares of tunisia and egypt and yemen and in the fights for liberty in iraq and afghanistan and libya and now in syria. in short, it's a struggle between liberty and tyranny. justice and oppression, hope and despair. we have seen this struggle before. it would be familiar to general george marshall. in his time the ashes of world war, another critical

part of the world was torn between democracy and it is potism. fortunately we had leaders of courage and vision, both republicans and democrats who knew america had to support friends that shared our values and prevent today's crises from becoming tomorrow's conflicts. statesmen like marshall rallied our nation to rise to its responsibility as leader of free world. we helped our friend to build and sustain free societies and free markets. we defended our friends, and ourselves from our common enemies. we led. we led and though the path was long and uncertain, the thought of war in europe is as inconceivable today as it seemed inevitable in the last century. this is what makes america exceptional. it is not only the character of our country, it is also the record of our accomplishments. america has a proud history of strong, confident, principled global

leadership. a history that has been written by patriots of both parties. this is a america as its best and is the standard by which we measure every president as well as anyone who wishes to be president. unfortunately this president's policies have not been equal to our best examples of world leadership and nowhere is this more evident than in the middle east. i want to be very clear. the blame for the murder of our people in libya and the attacks on our embassies in so many other countries lies solely with those who carried them out, no one else. but it is our responsibility and the responsibility of the president to use america's greatest power to shape history, not to lead from behind, leaving our destiny at the mercy of events. unfortunately that's exactly where we find ourselves in the middle east under president obama. the relationship between the president's of the united states and the prime minister of israel, for example, our closest ally in

the region, has suffered great strains. the president explicitly stated his goal was to put daylight between the united states and israel and he has succeeded. this is a dangerous situation that is set back the hope of peace in the middle east and emboldened our mutual adversaries especially iran. iran today has never been closer to a nuclear weapons capability. it has never posed a greater danger to our friends, our allies and us and never acted less detered by america as made clear last year when iranian agents plotted assassinate the saudi ambassador in our nation's capitol. yet when millions of iranians took to the streets in june 2009, when they demanded freedom from a cruel regime that threatens the world, when they cried out, are you with us or are you with them? the american president was silent.

across the greater middle east, as the joy born from the downfall of dictators has given way to the painstaking work of building capable kurt forces and growing economies and growing effective democratic institutions the president has failed to offer the tangible support that our partners want and need. in iraq the costly gains made by our troops are being eroded by rising violence, a resurgent al qaeda, the weakening of democracy in baghdad and the rising influence of iran. and yet america's ability to influence events for the better in iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence. the president's tried, he tried, but he also failed to secure a responsible and gradual drawdown that would have better secured our gains. the president has also failed to lead in syria where more than 30,000 men,

women and children have been massacred by assad regime over the past 20 months. violent extremists are flowing into the fight. our ally turkey has been attacked and the conflict threatens stability in the region. america can take pride in the blows that our military and intelligence professionals have inflicted on al qaeda in pakistan and afghanistan including the kill of usama bin laden. these are real achievements won at a high cost. al qaeda remains a strong force however in yemen and somalia, in libya, and other parts of north africa, in iraq and now in syria and other extremists have gained ground across the region. drones and modern instruments of war are important tools in our fight but they are no substitute for a national security strategy for the middle east. the president is fond of saying that the tide of war is receding and i want to believe him as much as

anyone else but when we look at the middle east today, with iran closer than ever to nuclear weapons capability, with the conflict in syria threatening to destablize the region and with violent extremists on the march, and with an american ambassador and three others dead, likely at the hands of al qaeda affiliates, it is clear that the risk of conflict in the region is higher now than when the president took office. i know the president hopes for a safer, freer and more prosperous middle east allied with us. i share this hope. but hope is not a strategy. we can't support our friends and defeat our enemies in the middle east when our words are not backed up by deeds. when our defense spending is being arbitrarily and deeply cut. when we have no trade agenda to speak of, and the perception of our strategy is not one of partnership, but of passivity. the greater tragedy of it all is that we're missing an historic opportunity to win

new friends who share our values in the middle east. friends who are fighting for their own futures against the very same violent extremists and evil tyrants and angry mobs who seek to harm us. unfortunately so many of these people who could be our friends feel that our president is indifferent to their quest for freedom and dignity. as one syrian woman put it, we will not forget that you forgot about us. it's time to change course in the middle east. that course should be organized around these bedrock principles. america must have confidence in our cause, clarity in our purpose, and resolve in our might. no friend of america will question our commitment to support them. no enemy that attacks america will question our resolve to defeat them, and no one anywhere, french or foe, will doubt america's capability to back up our words. i'll put the leaders of iran on notice that the united states and our friends and

allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability. i will not hesitate to impose new sanctions on iran and will tighten the sanctions we currently have. i'll restore the permanent presence of aircraft carrier task forces in both the eastern mediterranean and the gulf. and i will work with israel to increase our military assistance and coordination. for the sake of peace we must make clear to iran through actions not just words, that there their nuclear pursuit will not be tolerated. i'll reaffirm our historic ties to israel and our abiding commitment to its security. the world must never see any daylight between our two nations. i will deepen our critical cooperation with our partners in the gulf and i will roll roll back president obama's deep and arbitrary cuts to our national defense that would devastate our military. i will make the critical defense investments we need to remain secure, the decisions we make today,

will determine our ability to protect america tomorrow. the first purpose of a strong military is to prevent war. the size of our navy is at levels not seen since 1916. i will restore our navy to the size needed to fulfill our missions by building 15 ships per year, including three submarines. i will implement effective missile defenses to protect against threats. and on this, there will be no flexibility with vladmir putin. and i will call on our nato allies to keep the greatest military alliance in history strong by honoring their commitment to each to vote 2% of their gdp to security spending. today only three of the 28 nato nations meet this benchmark. i will make further reforms to our foreign assistance to create incentives for good governance, for free enterprise and for greater trade in the middle east and

beyond. i will organize all assistance efforts in the greater middle east under one official, with responsibility and accountability to prioritize efforts and to produce results. i will rally our friend and our allies to match our generosity with theirs. i will make it clear to the recipients of our aid that in return for our material support, they must meet the responsibilities of every decent, modern government, to respect the rights of all their citizens including women and minorities. to insure space for civil society, a free media, political parties, and an independent judiciary. and to abide by their international commitments to protect our diplomats and our property. i'll champion free trade and restore it as a critical element of our strategy, both in the middle east and across the world. the president has not signed one new free-trade agreement

in the past four years. i'll reverse that failure. i'll work with nations around the world that are committed to the principles of free enterprise, expanding existing relationships, and establishing new ones. i'll support friends across the middle east who share our values but need help defending them and their sovereignty against our common enemies. in libya i will support the libyan people's efforts to forge a lasting government that represents all of them and i'll vigorously pursue the terrorists who attacked our consulate in benghazi and killed our fellow americans. in egypt, i will use our influence, including clear conditions on our aid, to urge the new government to represent all egyptians, to build democratic institutions, and to maintain its peace treaty with israel. and we must persuade our friend and allies to place similar stipulations on their aid. in syria, i'll work with our

partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition who share our values and then insure that they obtain the arms they need to defeat assad's tanks and helicopters and fighter jets. iran is sending arms to assad because they know his downfall would be a strategic defeat for them. we should be working no less vigorously through our international partners to support the many syrians who would deliver that defeat to iran, rather than sitting on the sidelines. it's essential we develop influence with those forces in syria that will one day lead a country that sits at the heart of the middle east. in afghanistan i'll pursue a real and successful transition to afghan security forces by the end of 2014. president obama would have you believe anyone who disagrees with his decision in afghanistan is arguing for endless war but the route to war and to potential attacks here at home is a politically timed

retreat that abandons the afghan people to the same extremists who ravaged their country and used it to launch the attacks of 9/11. i will evaluate conditions on the ground and weigh the best advice of our military commanders and i will affirm my duty is not to protect my political prospects but to protect the security of the nation. finally i will recommit america to the goal of a democratic, prosperous palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the jewish state of israel. on this vital issue the president has failed and what should be a negotiation process has devolved into a series of heated disputes at the u.n. in this old conflict, as in every challenge we face in the middle east, only a new president will bring the chance to begin anew. there's a longing for american leadership in the middle east and it's not unique to that region. it's broadly felt by

america's friend and allies in other parts of the world as well. in europe where putin's russia cast as long shadow over young democracies and where our oldest allies been told we're pivoting away from them. in asia and across the pacific where china's recent assertiveness is sending chills throughout the region. here in our own hemisphere where our neighbors in latin america want to resist the failed ideology of hugo chavez and the castro brothers and deepen ties with the united states on trade and energy and security. but in all these places, just as in the middle east, the question is asked, where does america stand? i know many americans are asking a different question, why us? i know many americans are asking whether our country today with our ailing economy and our massive debt and after 11 years of war is still capable of leading? i believe that if america doesn't lead, others will.

others who don't share our interests, and our values, and the world would grow darker for our friend, and for us. america's security and the cause of freedom can not afford four more years like the last four years. i'm running for president because i believe the leader of the free world has a duty to our citizens, and to our friends everywhere to use america's great influence wisely, with solemnity and without false pride and also firmly and actively to shape events in ways that secure our interests, further our values, prevent conflict and make the world better, not perfect but better. our friend and allies across the globe don't want less american leadership, they want more, more of our moral support, more of our security cooperation, more of our trade, more of our assistance in building free societies and thriving

economies. so many people across the world still look to america as the best hope of humankind. so many people still have faith in america. we must show them that we still have faith in ourselves. that we have the will and the wisdom to revive our stagnant economy, to roll back our unsustainable debt. to reform our government. to reverse the catastrophic cuts now threatening our national defense. to renew the sources of our great power and to lead the course of "human events". sir winston churchhill once said of george marshall, he always fought victoriously against defeatism, discouragement and disillusion. that is the role our friend want america to play again and it is the role we must play. the 21st century can and must be an american century. it began with terror and war and economic calamity.

it's our duty to steer it onto the path of freedom and peace and prosperity. the torch america carries is one of decency, and hope. it is not america's torch alone, but it is america's duty and honor to hold it high enough that all the world can see its light. thank you so much for your participation in this great charge. god bless you and god bless the united states of america. thank you very much. [applause] jon: remarks from republican presidential candidate mitt romney. governor romney at the virginia military institute in lexington, virginia, west central virginia, one of the nation's premier private military academies. there you see cadets, well in their dress whites. that is their daily gash there. i -- garb. i was there last week, visiting lexington. a town of 7500 in west

central virginia. it is home to a couple pillars of the south. general robert e. lee is buried there on the campus of washington & lee university. stonewall joox son is buried there. george marshall is a graduate of vmi. you heard the governor mention george marshall, who went on to become the secretary of state and author of the marshal plan. that is what the president both, i'm sorry the governor, in the beginning and at the end of his speech he pointed to the contributions that george marshal made to world affairs. that is part of reason for the setting of this speech. talk about it now with michael oh hanlon, i'm sorry, the coauthor of bending history, barack obama's foreign policy. senior from brookings institution. general bob scale, retired general and fox news military analyst. general scales, to you first, he suggested that a more

muscular foreign policy especially with regards to the middle east is needed right now. did you hear it that way? >> boy i sure did, jon. one of the things. this is the first speech i hear him give where he establishes a clear difference from the administration. he focuses exclusively on the middle east and not on china and russia. secondly his tone is more strident and confrontational. a clear swing from the soft power approach of this administration over to a more strident and approach to national security. he talked about the not reducing the defense budget substantially and increasing our level of security in our armed forces which we haven't heard before. so this speech i think, sort of stakes out his national

security for the first time. there is clear separation what he said just a few minutes ago and what we heard from the current administration. jenna: michael, general scales is picking up on something we really heard a lot about over the last couple months. the criticism of the romney campaign they haven't drawn a clear enough distinction between their foreign policy and foreign policy of this current administration. how did you hear it? what would you point out are major differences between what a romney ad administration would look like and another four years of president obama might look like? >> even for a person who doesn't think badly of president obama's foreign policy i think it was useful because it reinforced america's need for engagement in the world. general scales was correct, there is military aspect to that which i personally may not consider necessary but i welcome the general tone of more engagement even if i don't think defense spending going up and. tired of wars. tired of unrest. discouraged by the

anti-americanism, seen throughout broader islamic world and mood of come home america. let's mend our own problems and heal our own wounds for a while. that is understandable and partly i think right, if we take it too far we can get ourselves into trouble. governor romney arguing not for just more military spending but more effective foreign aid. better coordinated. arguing for a word dare i say sounds like nation-building. places like libya where he wants to do more to help countries get on their feet after revolutions before they have been through. he didn't use the word nation-building. talking about staying engaged building up institutions and being patient to get out of afghanistan. like tone of patience and engagement even if i disagree on certain substantive matters. jenna: one of the things mitt romney pointed to, general scales, his comment the president first mentioned in june of 2011, the tide of war is receding.

and mitt romney said he would like to believe the president but he obviously doesn't think that is the case. what is your opinion now, where we stand in 2012? is the tide of war receding or not? >> well, it's hard to say on jenna, one thing governor romney did say, is that under his administration, he will focus principally on the middle east. focus on trouble spots which seem to be getting worse and worse by the day. sent a message to leaders in the middle east that he is sort of going to re-engage going confrontational and aggressive fashion. is the world safer today than it was just a few years ago? no, i don't think so. because i think the peace that we tried to establish in the middle east, frankly is beginning to fray and in large measure because many leaders in the middle east are beginning to question american resolve in that region and what the governor's trying to do is bring focus back in on this

region to focus on the wars we have rather than the wars we want, jenna. jon: michael, the phrase lead from behind, is something governor romney used. he said i'm going to throw that out. now the obama administration, and you said that you have not been entirely unhappy with obama administration for ren policy, but they sort of wore that phrase as a badge of honor, especially during the nato bombardment of libya. is there going to be a remarkable change on that score? should mitt romney become president? >> it's a food question. -- good question. that is part of what i like about governor romney's tone because i think it will push the debate on both side into a place that is more engaged. you're right the obama administration, may not have come up with that term, leading from behind. it seemed to characterize approach in libya which i thought was actually effective through 2011. but here we are in 2012 and we're in a mode of trying to

bring forces home, we're nervous about talking about foreign assistance at a time of big federal budget deficits. what governor romney has done i think is make it easier to debate on both sides in terms of what are the next steps we need to take as americans to stay engaged and contribute so that this region doesn't become more turbulent and more dangerous. so it become as little bit more acceptable -- politically acceptable perhaps offering the libyans more assistance for their security forces or the president morsi in egypt is willing to stay in positive fashion for us and israel to offer more assistance that. is stone and style of debate i would welcome because i feel that politicians otherwise tend to fear we have to talk about retrenchment and withdrawal given problems we're having back here in the united states. that is not necessarily good for our foreign policy. romney pushed it in the better direction. jon: with our murder of our first ambassador in 30 years, more than 30 years.

turbulent and dangerous is appropriate question. jenna: whether or not the tide of is receding. from that standpoint a lot of philosophy is made. a lot of foreign policy is comes whether you believe the tide of war is receding or whether or not it is not indeed. we had this big vice-presidential debate on thursday. i'm curious quickly, general scales, first to you, and michael, then to you, what do you want to hear more about in that debate? what do you think is crucial for the american to hear more about? general scales? >> yeah, thanks. i want the american people it hear how committed both sides are to forward engagement particularly in the middle east. i want the american people to get a sense, the tone, if you will, of both candidates. to get a sense between the two, who has the more forward-looking, aggressive, confrontational style of policy versus the other. it will be very, very

interesting jenna. jenna: michael? >> i like that but i would say i want to hear on russia and china, despite the fact this speech was largely on the middle east, i want to hear a little more about how the president romney or president obama would address the current problems we face with them right now. governor romney said he didn't want to bend on any missill defense options. i understand his logic. i also understand president obama's logic to come up with a better plan i think than he inherited. so russia and china are complicated big countries. we need nuanced policy. we have to avoid either we're just friends or we're just adversaris. i think hearing more nuanced to those two countries and discussion about them would be helpful thursday night. jenna: very interesting on vision. we didn't hear too much in the speech. michael, general scales, thank you both very much. >> general, thank you. jon: well, what a difference a debate can make. we'll see whether that speech makes a difference as

well. governor romney getting a big bounce in the polls after getting the best of president obama in their first debate. welcome to the second hour of "happening now." i'm jon scott. jenna: high, everybody, i'm jenna lee. right now the president is raising campaign cash in california. as you know if you're watching "happening now", which you should every day by the way. jon: yes. jenna: governor romney wrapping up speech on foreign policy. that was billed to be a big moment establishing himself and what he feels about the foreign policy that a romney administration would put into place if he is elected mentioning. jon: some interesting points in the speech he just finished. key points awareness of impact on voters just 29 dice before they go to the polls. governor romney closing the gap in the latest "gallup poll." the candidates are tied now at 47%, just before the debate, president obama was ahead by 5%, 50-45. talk about it with bret baier, the anchor of "special report". bret, i read this was the

most watched presidential debate since reagan-carter back in the '80s. clearly a lot of people were paying attention and clearly it has benefited governor romney? >> definitely has. i think you're not finished seeing how it's benefited the romney camp. polls probably in the next few days in some of these battleground states will likely reflect that as well. i would like to, if i could, reflect on foreign policy speech, and your conversation with the general and michael as well. i think you both hit on it, really well. you know, that governor romney mentioning george marshall at the beginning, a vmi graduate, chief of staff of the army, who went on to become secretary of state and secretary of defense. he started the speech quoting him, george marshall, saying only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it. that was a theme throughout that speech. when general ma mentioned president obama the line that romney used, president obama always says the tide

of war is always receding, that is the theme of war he hit throughout. when the president says tide of war is receding everything you see around the middle east suggests otherwise according to romney. with iran getting closer to a nuclear bomb. syria really threating the vitality and stabilization of the middle east, and now, libya, and he is saying because there's not strength from america and leadership from america, that there's a vacuum being created. and even in afghanistan, he says that anybody who disagrees with the president in this setting a date for troops to pull out, that they are then labeled arguing for endless war. and, he is saying no, with leadership and strength you can still fight to win something. and still transition in 2014, or when conditions are right. i think it is sort of the reagan philosophy of peace through strength that governor romney was trying to get to in this speech. i think both of you hit it

on those questions to the general and michael o'hanlon. jon: he spoke specifically about iraq, which is a word a lot of americans don't like to hear much about but he essentially said that the situation in iraq is backsliding and he said, the president tried and failed to secure a responsible and gradual drawdown of our forces there. he is suggesting that, you know, had he been president we would still have forces on the ground in iraq because he says, you know, he would have negotiated a better agreement. >> yeah. and i think that the theme was, that he's not confrontational. i don't know if general scales, when he is using that word, i don't know if the romney folks would agree with the use of confrontational. i think engagement and strength, they're arguing i think that, they don't want to get in more wars. they want to engage more to prevent more wars. at least that is what the words are in this speech.

i think that there was an effort by governor romney to try to separate himself from obama administration policy on a number of different fronts and he may have done it in this speech. jon: well he has given the obama campaign a awful lot to respond to. that will be interesting. i'm sure you will have that tonight on "special report", right, bret? >> you got it. jon: we'll let you get to it. thanks for joining us today. "special report" airs each and every monday through friday, 6:00 p.m. eastern. bret baier is your host. bret, thank you. don't miss the coverage of the vice-presidentialal debate as well including expert analysis after the debate. vice president joe biden squares off against his republican opponent, congressman paul ryan. that starting at thursday, 8:55 p.m.. jenna: i like when bret comes on and tells us we do a good job. jon: i like that. please tell the bosses. >> i appreciate that. big conversation we'll continue to have all week, jon mentioned leading up to the debate.

meantime something is happening out west we can not ignore. gas prices hitting all-time high in california. many drivers paying more than $5 a gallon. what the governor is doing about it now. global technology company you may have never heard of raising serious concerns about national security on capitol hill. the chairman of the house intelligence committee, the one who just issued this report, tells us why we should be concerned, next. ♪ leaving my homeland

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crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. tell your doctor about other medicines yore taking. ll your doctoright away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of rare but serious side effects. ♪ is your cholesterol at goal? talk to youdoctor about crestor. [ femalannouncer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. jenna: right now california's governor is taking action as ded breaking prices at pupl many soaring to an all time high $4.67 a gallon of regular, that is an average. jon: ouch! jenna: here is the natural

average, $3.82. adam housley is live in los angeles. did you cycle too work today all things considered? what is going on there? >> that would be nice, we don't really have public transportation, so i continue take transportation to work. i drove from northern california to southern california yesterday. if you find gas under $4.96 you take it. it's tough to find. this 76 station in los angeles not far from the 405 freeway, the regular price is $4.99. down the street you'll find regular at $5.29. there are three reasons for it. one demand is up. two, a number of refineries have gone down, including a big oil refinery in the bay area back in august, and three, california's gas standards are higher, different and strict. you can't buy gas from surrounding states and bring it in. you have to do it here. that is the issue right now as prices continue to drive up.

there isn't really going to be a lot of relief. jenna: no relief in the near future, the distant future? what are people doing, adam? when you see $5 a gallon you think that is enough to keep me off the road. >> reporter: when i say no relief, there is no significant relief. the governor signed basically the ability to take the summer stringent standards and make them a little bit easier, we have a winter and summer standard, the winter standard being less stringent. it will take a couple of weeks for it to play in. industry experts say it will only help 10 or 15-cents a gallon because it's all about getting the refineries back online. anyway you look at it people in california are not happy. as you mentioned some people aren't driving that much. we had a chance to hear from a few. here is what they say. >> i think the california prices are ridiculous. >> it's too high, way too high. >> i try to the to drive unless i really have to. >> never seen the gas prices

anywhere near this. >> in a week it's gone up 5 52-centses, that is unprecedented. >> senator feinstein is calling for hearings in washington suggesting that the oil refineries or oil companies are behind this. they say bring down the standards and the prices will go down. the environmentalists are saying shall don't do that, they are helping the environment. when you live in a golden state, dealing with prices over $5 a gallon are not making people happy. jenna: jon is going to send you a check so you can make sure you can get to work. adam, nice to see you as always. >> reporter: you guys make the big money. jenna: thank you, adam, talk to you soon. jon: i notice there is a prius at the pump. jenna: did you see that in the red prius. jon: even the hybrids are having to pay the 5-dollar-plus

prices. one presidential candidate gaining ground in a key battleground state. we will bring you the latest numbers. in one state police bust a bomb plot aimed at several churches. why the suspect's family says they are relieved he is under arrest. we'll have some of the details of his plan ahead.

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an employee in miami, oklahoma cannot believe he actually helped put an end to this catastrophic plan after making an alarming discovery after taking out the trash inside a suspicious camouflage duffle bag, listen. >> i pulled it out, it was heavy. i heard bottles rattling in it. i opened it up, there was a whole bunch of shredded materials. one of the bottles has gray tape

on it. i went back inside and called the play. any time you see a sack full of bottles with tape around them and a bunch of material or anything like that, that is not normal trash. >> reporter: when police arrived the bottles were actually 52 molotov cocktails or home-made bombs. an aunt said both the man's parents committed suicide and suffered from drug abuse. he is being held without bail. jon: it does sound like a very good thing they have that guy in custody. julie banderas thanks. >> reporter: sure. jenna: early voting is well underway in iowa even before the first presidential debate it was happening and we're taking a closer look at the swing state of iowa today. a recent poll by the des moines register say most iowa voters place the economy high among their concerns and they want a candidate that can fix it. you can see the unemployment rate well below what we see

nationally. gas prices, let's just do this because we are talking to adam in california about the $5 a gallon for gas. this is slightly before the national average. the president slightly more time spent than romney but both quite a bit of time spent in the state of iowa. electoral votes it has 6 out of 270. every vote counts as you well know. let's take a lock at where the polls are today. you can see the most recent "real clear politics" average here has the president up slightly over mitt romney. the last time i spoke to our next guest about three weeks ago it was a virtual tie in the polls, again the president just slightly higher than mitt romney today. we have the politica political editor for the des moines editor. what has changed over the past couple of weeks? >> i think that the fact that early voting has started has really focused the candidates and their campaigns on getting people out to vote.

up until the last few weeks it's been about getting people to make up their minds. one of the polls as you mentioned shows a close race, but only about 2% of iowa likely voters have not made up their mind yet. we are talking about very thin margins of people. now it's all about motivating people to get out to vote. i think the first debate really did make a difference in that sense. jenna: a difference in what way, and in which favor? >> yeah, well i think it was good for mitt romney who was a little bit behind in the poll, because it really helped to energize republicans to actually get people out to vote, you know, not only themselves but their neighbors, their friends, to go down to the campaign and make phone calls. these are the kinds of things that really matter right now in iowa, as far as, you know, really just making sure to get people to the polls and to get people to vote early. jenna: one of the thins that i read about iowa is that iowa's

likely voters do have a sensor they seem to be more affectionate if you will to paul ryan who is the running mate of mitt romney. we had that big vice presidental debate that is happening on thursday. how much of an issue do you think the vice presidental debate might be in the state of eye yeah iowa where we are seeing that likely voters may respond to paul ryan. >> paul ryan was popular in iowa. both paul ryan and joe biden were personally popular. when we asked people who was the more of an asset to the campaign it was very clear that paul ryan was seen as more of an asset to the romney campaign and joe biden was to the obama campaign. i think the people are watching this vice presidental debate in part to see how well the sort of second in command stand up against each other. but i also think that people kind of watch these debates a

little bit like a nascar sport, they want to see who is going to go into the wall, and i think, you know, avoiding gaffes is going to be very, very important for the candidates. jenna: it is like a sporting event in many ways. kathy, it's really nice to have you back with us. we look forward to checking back in with you before election day. thank you. >> thanks a lot. jon: at the last nascar race it seems like everybody went into the wall. jenna: it was a bad one. jon: new fears of another super power spying on the united states. a block-buster report warning about espionage about two giant overseas companies. we'll talk with the house intelligence committee about this threat. efforts to legalize marijuana went up in smoke earlier. one state high school a good chance of making pot perfectly legal.

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you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. jenna: new fears about china spying on the united states, and we get today a new alarming congressional report that is warning us really about two huge chinese tell louisiana.com firms, really advising that the firms should not be allowed to set up shops in our country. these telecom companies create information networks that could give companies the ability to access both private property, the information that you pass on in your personal networks on your computer or secure government networks and the

information that lives on those networks. there are concerns about these companies have access to that type of information. joining us live is republican congressman mike rogers of michigan, the chairman of the house intelligence committee. congressman this is a big report, it's been a year in the making, it's bipartisan. wall ways, one of the companies that you point out in this report that you have concerns about. this company has its tentacles in 140 countries. why are you concerned about this company operating in the united states. >> the australians took a look at this and said you can't operate in any government system in the expansion of broadway and australia. great britain has them apart of their network and came back and said we have to come up with third party validation stations to protect the information going across our network. it's very difficult to do, they are having a hard time doing d this company tied to the chinese

wants to ebbs panned more into the united states. they received questionable financing from the chinese government, which allows them to put their price points lower than any other competitor, so they could artificially compete to get into these infrastructure networks of the united states. think about all the information that flies across the networks, could be your personal financial information, medical records, more importantly it would give them broad access to these networks that companies are on that are trying to protect from chinese espionage today it would give them an easier way to get there. what we found is -- go ahead. jenna: do you think this company is actually working on behalf of the chinese government? is it almost like a spy agency on its own? >> they call it a national champion. china has deemed this particular company is a national champion meaning it's going to get all the support and finance that the chinese government can give it

to be successful around the globe. we found instances of bribery and corruption, so that they could get not only here in the united states by the way but other nation states so it could get its equipment into these countries. we also found that this equipment had bugs and back doors and beaconing capability. what does that mean? remember, some of these routing systems, so your information flies across the rout route routers. people came forward to the committee saying this equipment would turn on and start beaconing. and we found that it was beaconing information that it did not have authorization or access to back to china. we know this is a serious, serious event. why we would open up our networks knowing that this information is out there? jenna: so these networks, which are hard to visual hraoeu advice visual ice because we are passing so much information over our computers and blackberries,

we often hear the technology 4g, there is not a united states company that makes that technology. there are other companies besides those in china that make it. so have suggested that even the companies that are european companies take their parts and create their technology with chinese-made products. is recommending that this company doesn't operate in the united states really keeping us any safer if those other companies are still making their own technology in china? >> the other option, here, jenna is we throw up our hands and say, let them have our critical infrastructure and, ahh, schucks. we haven't gone to the point where we can't mitigate the damage done on our american networks and we have to keep it that way. we have to be vigilant. it also puts the chinese and notice not you are not going to do these things without being called on the carpet. you have to understand this is not the way the world engages in commerce. you cannot steal your way to

prosperity and that's what they are doing and have not been held accountable for it. what i refuse to do as chairman of the national security committee and my ranking member, a democrat by the way, and this was a bipartisan report that lays out the facts that says these two companies are up to no good and have this connection to the chinese government which we already know is working to steal very valuable intellectual property and they do it thousands, and thousands and thousands of times a day. jenna: what is the legal ramifications of your report? can this company still operate inside the country right now and what is really next in. >> the report won't stop any of wall ways activities here today. there are two components of it. we are recommending that a group of us get together very soon for a formulation of a package of bills that would help protect our critical infrastructure moving forward from a national security perspective, number one, and number two there is a whole host of criminal activity, very purposeful and a pattern of visa violations to try to get chinese workers in to work at

these companies for very specific tasks which is a violation of visa law. you have copyright infringement, in other words they are stealing other people's work and repurposing it in their companies to use that as a competitive advantage, and bribery and corruption as i said, bugs, back doors and beaconing activities, all is going to get referred to the f.b.i. we think there will be a great criminal investigation. remember this is coming from current and former employees as well as our foreign partners overseas as well as the classified information we get from our intelligence services. this is solid stuff. jenna: congressman as we mentioned a year in the making this report and the story we'll continue to follow for all the reasons that we mentioned. thank you for your time today, we appreciate it very much. >> thank you. jenna: congressman rogers mentioned that he caulk a lot to one of the former employees of wall way, we reached out to them today, they gave us this statement saying quote. this investigation and report are nothing more than a politics exercise that has ignored

technical, commercial and cultural realities. it achieves nothing in terms of securing networks in a world in which major every major vendor develops codes and builds globally, including china we'll continue to watch this story for you here on "happening now." jon: president obama facing attacks from an unexpected quarter. while the usually glowing coverage in the mainstream media appears to be turning a little tougher. plus, they were down to the final lap at talladega when the race turned into a demolition derby. well, if it isn't mr. margin.

mr. margin? don't be modest, bob. you found a better way to pack a bowling ball. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. you fod a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll.

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look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. jenna: tal tkaeu talladega another shocker on the racetrack. tony stewart triggering a 25-car pileup as he maneuvers by traffic. matt kenseth winning under

caution here. look at that. nascar taking more than an hour to sort through the finishing order for the remaining cars. no injuries are reported, luckily, but some drivers tired of crashes, tired of unsafe tactics are calling for nascar to intervene. not a good day at the track. jon: that is a couple of bubs lost, that's for sure. the mainstream media have a history of giving president obama plenty of slack, but after his performance against governor romney in their first debate there are signs some in the media could be turning on the president. let's talk about it with our news watch panel today. jim pinkerton is a contributing editor and writer for the american conservative magazine. alan colmes is host of the alan colmes radio show and he has a new book out "thank the liberals for saving america." i'm going to start with you first, alan because i know what you're going to say. you're going to say that the mainstream media are not in the tank for president obama and never have been. >> okay, thank you.

jon: no, that's -- >> really don't buy the right-wing pai pair paranoia, because liberals are liberal and are in the tank for president obama. they follow what is in their interest that is going to sell papers or get clicks online or get vires. they do what will get them attention. i don't about it automatic set up that all of a sudden the media has turned against someone they automatically favored up until about four days ago. jon: jim, what is your counter argument? >> well, i mean i think that the media, if they really wanted to sell papers and get clicks and get eyeballs in the nielsens they would have pursued a lot of the obama scandals. >> scandals. >> david plouth getting a hundred million dollars before a month he goes to the white house. look at this debate now. i think what you really saw

there is the media's adoration of president obama taking a deep fall. it was a crushing moment for them to see the president do so badly in the polls, and the polls showed by as much as 4-1 the american people felt that governor romney had won that debate and i think the media were sort of scrambling there for a couple of days to kind of find their footing, however, give them credit they always find way to get back in the game, and so the two lines that you're going to see now going forward from about friday on were one, romney lied his way into the debates, that is a popular thin. ed schultz was saying it on the today show last week, and the second one of course is mitt romney wants to pick on poor old big bird. they'll be back in the game slugging romney as also hoping they could put obama over-the-top. >> romney did lie, he changed his positions numerous times. he said in one sentence that he would not lower the rate for

upper income americans for taxes and -- he would not lower their taxes but he would lower the rate from 35 to 25%. how can they both be true? if you fact check what he said it doesn't make any sense. >> here is a fact check for you, as they say in washington the president proposes, the congress disposes. nobody, including mitt romney or barack obama can wave a magic wand and lower the tax rate. >> go after romney for that. he said he's going to overturn obamacare, he can't do that without the help of congress. where is the media on that? >> i think they are reporting faithfully that governor romney wants to repeal obamacare. if he wins the republican congress he probably will succeed, if the democrats hold the senate he problem bee won't. >> he said he would do it day one. he can't do it day one without congress. i mean again he's saying things -- >> he can propose it day one. >> he didn't say propose he said he would repeal it day one, do it day one. jon: let me as the moderator of this debate play jim lehrer for a moment and get in headlines

that prompted this. we are just about out of time. the new yorker cover out has mitt romney debating an empty podium. some would say if you've lost the "new yorker" you've loss a lot of steam in the mainstream media. then there are headlines, why he's falling apart said the new york daily news regarding president obama. why the u.s. is unhappy under obama. does obama want to be president, that's in "the washington post." and how obama lost the will to win. that is the guardian. >> i say passing phase. >> he was battling clint eastwood there with the emptiness. jon: always a good discussion. thank you. jenna: we heard a little bit from mitt romney just about an hour ago on how he feels about foreign policy in general an mentioned iran. there are rising tensions today in that country, why iran's president may be feel the heat

from economic sanctions and whether his own people could force a change there when it comes to the nuclear program. more on that in just a moment. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

jenna: within the last hour governor mitt romney laying out new details on his foreign policy vision. he mentioned iran, and this comes as we take in what is happening in iran right now. some serious economic pain. the currency plunging in value sparking massive protests against the islamic regime. joining us is the executive director of the foundation for the defense of democracy. one of the things that mitt romney said today is iran has never posed a greater danger to our friends, allies or us and has never acted less deterred by mesh. do you a tkhrao agree with that premise? >> i do, jenna.

it's very clear that the iranian regime is not deterred by economic pressure. they continue to race forward on their nuclear program. according to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu the spring or summer of next year iran will capacity and the ability to break out or sneak out to develop a nuclear weapon. the currency is dropping, there are riots, we have seen no evidence that the economic pressure is changing the calculus of iran's supreme leader. jenna: when we seat unrest in the streets of iran. we are getting drips and drabs of it because we tonight have access. is that good for america, does that mean the sanctions are working in some ways if not fully? >> the protestors not massive, they are limited. the fact of the matter is if we really want to test this thesis we've got to bring iran to the vernal of economic collapse and test the nuclear will of iran's supreme leader. so far we have not done that, there is much more that needs to be done. jenna: how do you do that?

how do you bring the regime and country to economic collapse and not create more anger, more hostility towards the united states, or is that even a factor in how you look at whether or not this is effective in achieving our ultimate goal which is making sure that iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon? >> yeah, well, jenna you know the anger is not being directed at the united states, it's been directed at this iranian regime, kphupgs an, its corruption. you have to drain iran of hits foreign exchange reserves, our analysis that we've done shows that iran is still about two years away from running out of foreign exchange reserve. if the nuclear threshold line is a year away there is much much more we have to do. jenna: we haven't heard that, that it would take another two years to really, really affect iran's economy. how do we speed that up and how much faster do we need it to

happen? >> well, we need it to happen at least a year faster. we need it to happen before spring or summer of next year when iran becomes a nuclear threshold power. in order to do that we've really going to accelerate the sanctions massively. weee got to go after iran's foreign exchange reserve that are sitting in international banks in the world. we've got to decimate iran's central bank so we cut it off from the financial sector and go as close as possible to imposing an embargo on goods and services sold to iran. if we do this we may bring the regime to the verge of economic collapse, then it will test whether they are willing to put their nuclear likelihood ahead of their people. jenna: we'll look at whether the sanctions are working and what the timeline is. we look forward to having you back to talk about that. thank you so much. >> thank you, jenna. jon: the u.s. navy commissions a brand-new vessel as part of our

fleet the u.s.s. michael murphy named after the first american to receive the medal of honor for service in afghanistan. jenna was there and will tell you all about this weekend's ceremony. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness?

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speed-reading a big celebration over the weekend. in active service for the u.s. navy was named after lieutenant michael murphy, a navy seal. what you are seeing is the navy seals leapfrog team. kicking off these events and bringing everybody's attention to that destroyer, which is right there to the left of your screen. michael murphy is and honor recipient. he died in afghanistan. you might know the book, "lone survivor." it is also known as operation redwing.